Former senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Ashutosh, who recently severed ties with the party, kicked off a political storm on Wednesday through a tweet in which he alleged his surname was used despite his “protest” when he was fielded in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Chandni Chowk.
The journalist-turned-politician’s statement assumed significance in the wake of the AAP’s probable candidate for the east Delhi Parliamentary constituency Atishi dropping her second name ‘Marlena’ from everything, including party literature and posters to her personal Twitter handle, indicating the AAP’s attempt to “play caste politics”, according to the BJP.
A ‘personal prerogative’
Party insiders, however, claimed the decision to field him four years ago was taken only on the basis of his assumed mass appeal as a prominent face on a list of 19 others in what was then the AAP’s chief anti-graft poll plank. Delhi convener Gopal Rai, in response to a question related to the development, said the decision to use one’s surname or not was “personal prerogative”.
“In 23 years of my journalism, no one asked my caste, surname. Was known by my name. But as I was introduced to party workers as LOKSABHA candidate in 2014 my surname was promptly mentioned despite my protest [sic],” Mr. Ashutosh tweeted early on Wednesday.
He added in Hindi that “he was later asked how he would win [without making his surname and caste public] and that there was a significant vote base for his caste in the Chandni Chowk constituency.”
In early June, the party named Pankaj Gupta, an AAP national secretary, incharge of the Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency.
Clarifies statement
A party source sought to clarify that the actual intent of Mr. Ashutosh’s tweet, followed by others stating that he was being “misunderstood”, may have been lost in translation and further said that he had himself followed up with his own clarification of the initial tweet which caused the row and continued to remain on his Twitter timeline.
Mr. Ashutosh announced his resignation from the AAP’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) on August 15 citing “a very very personal reason”, which party sources have since insisted solely relates to family compulsions. He is also, party sources say, considering returning to journalism through an online platform.
In early 2014, party insiders pointed out, Mr. Ashutosh was chosen as one of “20 popular faces” intended to take on established leaders from other parties whom the AAP put on its “India’s Most Corrupt List” and fielded in Parliamentary Constituencies across several States.
